The Charge

"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into
mine."—Rick, Casablanca

The Case

At first glance, TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Best Picture
Winners looks like it would be one of those bare bones releases in which you
get four films and only one is worth a damn. Luckily that's not the case, when
you consider Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, Gigi, and An
American in Paris all come with loads of extras in a compact case. The only
downside is we get these all on two flipper discs, but for space saving budget
conscious buyers this is heaven sent. Although the films have little in common
other than winning the highest honor from the Academy, they do make for a solid
collection for anyone who is a fan of awards season.

First up is the most well known of the Academy Award winning films featured
here, the timeless Casablanca from 1942 (wide released in 1943, so you
get a later award date). Funny, but when you look at this whole group this is
the film that won the least Oscars out of the four. Casablanca only won
three awards: for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It
was the story of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) who is living as a bitter
expatriate in Casablanca. Then "she" walks backs in. His ex-lover Ilsa
Lund (Ingrid Bergman) shows up with her new husband Victor Laszlo (Paul
Henreid), a fugitive Czech Resistance leader long sought by the Nazis. What's
Rick to do when he has their only way out and back to America thanks to his
connections?

Casablanca is presented in its original aspect ratio of what we know
today as fullscreen and in glorious black and white. This seems to be disc one
of the Casablanca: Special Edition since it contains the commentaries by
film critic Roger Ebert and historian Rudy Behlmer. The transfer is as good as
we can expect a film from 1942 to look with a solid picture and clear sound.
Contrast levels are great, and we see a beautiful gray scale which does wonders
with the clarity. Missing are documentaries and other additional features you'd
find in the stand alone discs of the film, but that's expected since this is a
value package.

Made around the same time, this set includes 1942's winner of the Best
Picture Oscar. Mrs. Miniver is simply a portrait of a middle class
English family as the second World War gets underway. Greer Garson plays the
title role, a brassy woman who will not be stopped no matter what. She's going
to keep the domestic front stiff upper lip even while her sons are off fighting.
The film took home six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress for
Greer Garson, Best Supporting Actress for Teresa Wright, Best Cinematography in
Black and White, Best Director for William Wyler, and Best Screenplay.

The disc includes a great looking fullscreen transfer. We get two World War
II shorts which are jingoistic propaganda films good for a chuckle now in
hindsight. There are some stills as well as mere seconds of Greer Garson's
acceptance speech at the Oscars.

Next up is one of the last great musicals filmed during an era when they won
major awards, Gigi. This film won the Best Picture Oscar for 1958. In
turn of the century Paris, rich cad Gaston Lachaille (Louis Jourdan, Octopussy)
creates headlines with exploits conquering women. Yet in contrast to his
lothario ways, he always visits his friend Madame "Mamita" Alvarez
(Hermione Gingold, The Music Man), who lives with her charming and
precocious granddaughter, Gigi (Leslie Caron). Mamita is raising Gigi to be a
courtesan. Gigi wants to be in a relationship for love, not money, which
complicates things when Gaston makes a bid for Gigi.

The presentation is exactly like what we saw in the first disc of Gigi:
Two-Disc Special Edition released last year. It contains a very colorful
well appointed transfer supported by a full surround track. We get a commentary
from historian Jeanine Basinger, and they include snippets of interviews from
Leslie Caron to balance her out now and then. There are also two shorts
including a live action propaganda piece and a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Finally we come to An American in Paris, which won the 1951 top
Oscar. Gene Kelly plays Jerry Mulligan, who seems to love living in Paris, and
has fallen for an alluring shop girl (Leslie Caron). The only trouble is she's
engaged. This film featured dazzling dance routines and a strong score and songs
by the Gershwins.

You couldn't ask for a better picture on the transfer, as this one was
restored in 2008 to amazing levels by Warner Brothers. The sound is only mono,
but that is accurate to the original. The DVD features a commentary spearheaded
by Patricia Ward Kelly (Gene Kelly's widow) which has snippets of interviews
from all the major players in the cast and crew. Also included are a live short
and a classic cartoon to round things out. Oh, and how could I almost forget we
do get a trailer.

Two war time dramas and two musicals make for a pretty good foursome in this
set from TCM and Warner Bros. The best news is these are the latest transfers
and come with the extras from at least the first disc of every release. TCM
Greatest Classic Films Collection: Best Picture Winners is a small package
that packs a pretty good wallop of quality content presented with tons of
supplemental material. It's a nice way to play these all again.